The final decision on women bishops in the Church of England is expected in the middle of the year after General Synod last month rejected further concessions to those wanting to retain a male-only episcopate.
After a three-hour debate at Church House in Westminster on 8 February, all three houses of the Synod – Bishops, Clergy and Laity – adopted a motion that explicitly rejected any “substantial” amendments to the legislation before it.
The legislation provided for traditionalist parishes to have access to an alternative male bishop, who would intervene in the diocese of a woman bishop – but only at her discretion.
After a three-hour debate at Church House in Westminster on 8 February, all three houses of the Synod – Bishops, Clergy and Laity – adopted a motion that explicitly rejected any “substantial” amendments to the legislation before it.
The legislation provided for traditionalist parishes to have access to an alternative male bishop, who would intervene in the diocese of a woman bishop – but only at her discretion.
A compromise by the Diocese of Manchester, which was defeated, proposed creating male “co-ordinate” bishops, who would serve traditionalist parishes in dioceses that may be led by a woman bishop but with authority under legislation, rather than from the diocesan bishop.
The Archbishops of Canterbury and York had backed this plan in 2010, with York’s Archbishop John Sentamu telling Synod last month that it would give the bishops a chance to make provision for traditionalists “without changing the substance of the legislation”. MORE
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